Luanda - The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, highlighted in Kinshasa the role played by Angola and Kenya in the mediation of the dispute between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.
Antony Blinken, who is leading a delegation of senior officials from his country, arrived in Kinshasa following a working visit to South Africa.
The US Secretary of State underlined that the United States supports the international mediation led by Angola and Kenya with the aim to bring back peace, security and stability, as it was quoted by the Congolese Press Agency.
According to the international press, the visit to the African continent aims to strengthen the US-Africa dialogue and seek to mitigate Russian influence on the African continent.
The US official called on M23 and all other armed groups to "cease their violent activities, demilitarize, and pursue the normalization efforts that are imperative."
The Deputy Prime Minister of the DRC, Christophe Lutundula, on his turn, said the US and Congolese delegations discussed issues of common interest.
Engagement of President João Lourenço
Under the mediation of the Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, presidents of the DRC, Félix Tshisekedi, and of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, met in July in Luanda, with the aim to resolve the armed conflict in the east of the DRC.
Since taking office as President of the Republic in September 2017, João Lourenço has been engaged in the resolution of political and military crises in some states of the Great Lakes Region, particularly in Rwanda and Uganda, Central African Republic (CAR), Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Chad.
Analysts consider that João Lourenço has been positively engaged in efforts to overcome the crisis and is working hard to end the presence, in DRC territory, of the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) and to dismantle the Congolese militias (M23).
